Where formal state authority is limited, local leaders often drive political mobilization — but why are some leaders more effective than others? This study introduces the concept of encompassing authority: how widely individuals perceive a leader as influencing multiple domains of their lives. Using original survey data from Zambia’s 2021 elections, the authors compare religious leaders, chiefs, and local councillors and test whether encompassing authority predicts mobilization beyond leader traits and voter characteristics.
Data and methods
The analysis draws on original survey data collected around Zambia’s 2021 elections and focuses on three types of local mobilizers: religious leaders, chiefs, and local councillors. The authors operationalize encompassing authority as individuals’ perceptions of a leader’s influence across life domains and test its association with reported campaign mobilization and attendance at community meetings, controlling for leader and individual characteristics.
Main findings
The study reports that encompassing authority predicts mobilization in campaign activities and community meetings independently of leader traits (for example, social centrality) and individual-level characteristics. The authors identify three mechanisms that help explain this relationship: belief in the leader’s legitimacy, fear of sanctions for noncompliance, and confidence in the leader’s ability to coordinate collective action.
Encompassing authority as a relational measure Original Zambia 2021 survey data Three proposed mechanisms: legitimacy, sanctions, coordination
- The three mechanisms highlighted are legitimacy, fear of sanctions, and coordination capacity.
- Findings are presented as associations conditional on controls rather than causal claims.
